Romney Wins Ohio, A Pivotal Battleground State

Perhaps it's fitting that the state that kept everyone up late last night, waiting for results, was Ohio. It's a swing state, and it seems every four years, in the fall, Ohio becomes the center of attention in a presidential election.

This year, as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, it just happened a little earlier.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Talk to Ohio voters - Republicans and Democrats alike - and there's one issue that rises above all the others.

MARVIN HAYWOOD: Number one: our economy.

BOBBI PENN: And, of course, the economy because a lot of people are still suffering.

SANDY BUCHWALTER: What are you going to do for the economy? What are you going to do to improve the quality of life for everyone?

KEITH: That was Marvin Haywood and Bobbi Penn - both Republicans - and Sandy Buchwalter, a Democrat. In exit polls yesterday, the top issue for Ohio voters was the economy. And by a lot, says Michael Dimock, associate director of the Pew Research Center.

MICHAEL DIMOCK: The way they ask the question is, they say: Which of these four issues was most important to you? It's 54 percent, economy; 26 percent, the budget deficit - which is another economic issue; 11 percent, abortion; and 5 percent, immigration.

KEITH: For James Brock, an economics professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, this is all a bit surprising.

JAMES BROCK: It's just not that horrible.

KEITH: The unemployment rate in Ohio is lower than the national average, and Brock says the state has recovered faster than the country as a whole.

BROCK: Sure, there are pockets of pain. There's no question about that. There are certain counties and areas that are pretty hard-pressed. But if you look across the board statewide, it's hard to make a credible case that things are terrible right now. In fact, quite the contrary - things are getting better.

KEITH: Even so, eight months from now, Pew's Dimock still expects the economy to be an issue here in Ohio, and the subject of attacks on President Obama.

DIMOCK: The public is still very uncertain and uneasy about their own situation, and the nation's situation.

KEITH: Ohio is such a closely divided state, that come November, voter enthusiasm may prove as decisive as anything else. And Dimock says exit polls from yesterday shine a light on a potential problem for the GOP.

DIMOCK: In Ohio, only 44 percent of the voters in this primary said they strongly back their candidate. That's a pretty lukewarm feeling for people who got out to the polls on an election day.

KEITH: One of those lukewarm voters is Carlo Capaldi, from Steubenville.

CARLO CAPALDI: Out of them all, that's the pick I made.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

KEITH: That pick was Rick Santorum, who came in a close second in statewide voting. But Capaldi's lack of enthusiasm is palpable.

CAPALDI: Basically, out of the available choices, that was the one I picked - for no reason other than, best choice out of the ones that were there.

KEITH: Eventually, this pool of candidates will most likely produce a nominee. And Dimock says a big, outstanding question - not given any new clarity by last night's results - is how enthusiastic Republican voters will be in the fall.

DIMOCK: I think the risk here is that not only is - have the candidates not really inspired the Republicans yet, but the bruising campaign might sort of deflate them further.

KEITH: And it may not just deflate Republicans. Independents often make the difference in the November outcome, and they've been inundated with the same negative campaign ads as everyone else.